How to practice my listening skills in Spanish

Hola amigos,

Espero que todos estén muy bien.

Today I was thinking that mastering yous listening skills in a foreign language can be quite hard, especially if you don't enjoy learning languages using auditory methods. However, listening is a very important skill, you can become familiar with different accents, you can learn new vocabulary, and it can help your speaking skills in a huge way.

If you are not a big fan of learning languages by listening or if you are struggling a bit with it, here there are a few things that may help you find a way to do it:

• Watch youtube videos in Spanish
• Listen to music in Spanish
• Make your goal of the week to watch a movie or documentary in Spanish, there are many available on Netflix and youtube. Depending on your level you can watch them with subtitles on your language, Spanish or without any subtitles
• Listen to music in Spanish, it can be while driving, cleaning your house, or when you are working out. You can also listen to songs and look up their lyrics
• Go to salsa lessons
• Find a language partner who is a native speaker. Many language schools and universities offer this service for free
• Start watching a televovela, tv series or news in Spanish, even 5 minutes a week will make a huge difference

Here are some online links that can help you with your listening skills:

• News in Slow Spanish
• Coffee Break Spanish
• Telenovela Destinos for Spanish learners
• Informe Semanal
• Mi vida loca

Saludos,

Fernanda

How to do small talk in Spanish - Useful phrases in Spanish to meet people

Hola amigos,

When you are just starting learning Spanish, you always feel like you need some extra phrases (questions and answers) so you can start talking to the native Spanish speakers and communicate. Here you have a list of some useful Spanish phrases to use in different contexts when you are just starting meeting people.

Hola: Hello

¿Cómo estás?: How are you?

Bien, ¿y tú? : I am fine and you?

¿Cómo te llamas? / ¿Cuál es tu nombre?: What is your name?

Me llamo ..... : My name is ....

¿De dónde eres?: Where are you from?

Soy de Escocia / Inglaterra / Estados Unidos / Francia / Alemania / Los Países Bajos :
I'm from Scotland/  England / The United States/ France  /   Germany / The Netherlands

¿A qué te dedicas?: What do you do for a leaving?

Soy estudiante / profesor (a) / ingeniero (a) / camarero (a) / informático (a):
I'm a student    /   teacher     /    engineer   / waiter - waitress / IT

¿Tienes facebook/ móvil/ twitter/ instagram etc? : Do you have .....?

¿Te puedo agregar a facebook / twitter / instagram?: Can I add you to ...?

¿Me darías tu número de teléfono?: Would you give me your phone number?


*Remember that the LL sound in Spanish can be like a soft J sound in English or a Y sound in English.
*Remember that for the female version of a word most of the time you need to either add an A at the end, if the word finishes in a consonant, like in profesor / profesora, or you need to replace the last vowel for A, like in camarero / camarera.

 

 

Saludos,

Fernanda

La palabra de la semana - "pesado" / The word of the week in Spanish

Hola a todos,

The word of the week in Spanish is pesado. Pesado means literally heavy in English, however, it is commonly used to refer to a person who is not nice or annoying.

Ejemplos:

• Mi hermano es un pesado
• Mi jefe es muy pesado

Saludos,
Fernanda

Falsos amigos en español - Discusión / False cognates in Spanish - Discusión

Hola amigos,

Today's false cognate or falso amigo en español is the word discusión.

Discusión looks very similar to the word discussion, and even though it can be used with that meaning, most of the times, the most popular use of discusión is used with the meaning of "argument". Discusión can be used to refer to a discussion as mentioned above, as long as it is used in the right context talking about a topic that is being discussed among several people.

Ejemplo: (discusión as argument) Los escuché discutir acaloradamente toda la tarde.

Ejemplo: (discusión as discussion) Los profesores discutieron los temas relevantes a los problemas de la educación

 

Saludos,

Fernanda

Los verbos más usados en español

Hola amigos,

Here I am leaving for you a list of 22 out of the 100 most used verbs in Spanish for you to use.

Verbo	Traducción
Abrir   Beber/Tomar   Creer   Comer   Cerrar   Decir   Escuchar/Oir   Estudiar   Escribir   Entender   Hablar   Hacer   Ir   Leer   Necesitar   Preguntar   Poder   Poner   Querer   Salir   Tener   Utilizar/Usar	To open   To drink   To believe   To eat   To close   To tell/ to say   To listen / to hear   To study   To write   To understand   To talk / to speak   To do / to make   To go   To read   To need   To ask   Can/ to be able   To put   To want   To leave/ to go out   To have   To use

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saludos,

Fernanda

 

Vocabulario de fútbol en español- Football vocabulary in Spanish

Hola a todos,

Now that "la copa del mundo" or "el mundial de fútbol" has started and we have many Spanish speaking countries in it, I thought about leaving some vocabulary in Spanish related to football.

VOCABULARIO	TRADUCCIÓN
Fútbol Pelota / balón Arco / portería Jugadores Arbitro Partido Cancha / campo  de fútbol Estadio Gol / goles Entrenador o director técnico (DT) Fanático / hincha	Football                                     Ball                 Goal Players Referee Match Football field Stadium Goal / goals / points Trainer Fan

Let me know if you can think of any more words

Saludos,
Fernanda

Vocabulario para el aeropuerto - Spanish airport vocabulary

Hola amigos,

Espero que todos estén muy bien. Aquí les dejo una lista con vocabulario útil para el aeropuerto y para cuando viajen a España y países de América Latina.

Vocabulario	Traducción
Azafata / Auxiliar de vuelo Aeropuerto Llegadas Equipaje Reclamo de equipaje Tarjeta de embarque Equipaje de mano Carrito Aduana Demorado Sala de espera Salidas Libre de impuestos Salida de emergencia Vuelo	Flight attendant Airport Arrivals Luggage Luggage claim Boarding pass Hand luggage Cart Duty free Delayed Waiting room Departures Tax free Emergency exit Flight

Saludos,
Fernanda

Diferencias entre el español de España y de Latinoamérica - Differences between Spanish from Spain and Latinamerica

Hola a todos,

Spanish is spoken as an official language is 20 countries and widely learned all over the world. Due to the fact that it is spoken in so many countries you can find small differences between Latin-American Spanish and Spanish from Spain.

Here you have a list with some of these differences:

Español de España	Español de Latinoamerica
Patata Melocotón Tarta Camarero Zumo Fresa Barbacoa Tirar Móvil Abuela	Papa Durazno Torta / pastel Mesero / garzón Jugo Frutilla (en algunos países Sudamericanos) Asado Botar Celular Abuelita

Saludos,
Fernanda